Sitting Out Election Night at Harvard

Tuesday, Nov. 4th, 8:40 p.m.: The Harvard Republican Club has no doubt that McCain can still win the presidency. As soon as CNN puts Pennsylvania in Obama’s camp, one of the Republicans shouts, “It’s only a projection!”



In their enclave in the Trustman Lecture Hall at the IOP, the outnumbered Republicans prepare for a night of watching election results in hostile territory. They sit down with their laptops, McCain-Palin buttons, and cold pizza, hoping for a major upset. The sounds of cheering Obama fans at the Election Night Party in the adjacent JFK Jr. Forum are only somewhat muted.



But the prospects of an upset grow dimmer as the projection screen in front of the room reports one blue state after another. For Colin J. Motley ’10, President of the HRC, the tendency of exit polls to exaggerate offers some hope, but overall things are “not too positive.”



The loss of New Hampshire to the Republicans stings the attendees on a more personal level. Jordan A. Monge ’12 speaks of spending the past few weekends knocking on doors in the battleground state and phone banking from her dorm room.



“I went out on the stoop to keep making calls when my roommate wanted to go to sleep,” she said. Politics never sleeps.



9:30 PM: CNN declares Ohio blue, and Obama’s victory is virtually guaranteed. The crowd outside chants, “Obama! Obama!” Inside, the lecture hall falls quiet. The Republicans slowly begin to trickle out of the room.



Even a visit from two Ben & Jerry’s reps with free “Thanks for Voting!” stickers can’t lighten the mood. One of them takes a break from handing out stickers to look around and sum things up.



“It’s about as much fun in here as Monday morning,” he says.